China CITIC Bank H1 profits rise 29 pct

China CITIC Bank, a mid-sized lender, said Thursday its net profits rose 29 percent year on year to reach 19.4 billion yuan (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half.

The bank attributed the growth to its increasing profitability and improved income structure, according to the bank's interim report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

In the first half, the lender's operating revenues rose 25 percent to 44.2 billion yuan, the statement said.

By the end of June, the lender's capital adequacy ratio, which measures a bank's ability to deal with risk assets, stood at 13.4 percent, up 1.17 percentage points from the same period last year.

Its core capital adequacy ratio rose 0.14 percentage points to 10.05 percent, the statement said.

The bank's non-performing loan ratio climbed 0.01 percentage points from the end of 2011, standing at 0.61 percent at the end of June, the statement said.